Sunday, January 9, 2011

Summary (from goodreads.com):What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all—looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, she re-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had ever imagined.

First Sentence:
They say that just before you die your whole life flashes before your eyes, but that's not how it happened for me.

My Thoughts:

Why this book?

Read lots of good reviews. So Many Books, So Little Time's review persuaded me to put it on my TBR list. While YA is not my favorite genre, I like reading them every so often if I want a fast, light read. And this book seems to be one of the Top 10 of many bloggers' favorite reads in 2010.

I actually borrowed this book before, started reading a few pages, then returned to the library because I couldn't get into it. I didn't mark it as Did Not Finish then because I felt like I just wasn't in the mood for it, but may give it a try later. Usually if I make it as DNF, I probably won't give it a second chance. But when I saw there were still so many positive reviews, I decided to pick it up again

First thought:

I can see why others like it, but it's just okay for me

Cover Art:

Before I read the book - looks fine, indifferent. After I read the book - can understand better why the cover was chosen, but I think it'd make more sense if it was set at night with snow, as opposed to sunlight and grass

Title:

Not bad. Guess described the story without giving too much away. The title itself doesn't intrigue me though

Writing:

Pretty easy to read, like most YA. Straight forward. I don't know many teenagers though so I can't tell you if that's how teens speak these days

Plot:

Many said it's like Groundhog Day (the movie) - I have never watched it so can't comment on that. Interesting concept, but got a bit repetitive after a while, especially since it is 470 pages long... Also a bit predictable for me, even when some past events were revealed

Characters:

Can't really say I can relate to any of the characters - I was not one of the popular girls and really had no desire to hang around girls like the main protagonist and her friends in the book, even if everyone else wanted to be them

None of the characters really stood out to me - they aren't prefect and have their faults which I guess make them realistic. Just that nobody made me go "wow, I wish I have a friend like that!" or "I wish I am like that!" If I really have to choose, probably Kent, Sam's childhood friend who she ditched as she became popular.

Ending:

Predictable for me. But I guess at least it DOES have an ending, as I feared it would continue on and on and on...

Emotion:

Didn't get too emotional... probably because I really didn't care too much about any of the characters

PS:

I think I would enjoy this book more had I read it as a teenager. While this book does have a message, it didn't really tell me more than what I already know

Thanks for the comment and for linking to your review on my site! I have to say, I am somewhat relieved to see your 3 star review because everyone has seemed to rave about Before I Fall... I just didn't feel that way, but obviously we're entitled to our own opinions :) My favorite part of your review: "at least it DOES have an ending, as I feared it would continue on and on and on." Well said!

@Charley - maybe I need to watch the movie to see if I like it better :)

@rhapsodyinbooks - I am kinda picky about YA - I am definitely judging it from an adult's perspective rather than reading it to see if it's good for YA to read...

@Marce - It was an interesting concept and the majority of reviews are positive. I guess I just felt like this book can be sum up in a few sentences instead... maybe because the "lessons learned" there isn't anything new to me.

@Bailey - thanks for visiting and following! I have subscribed to your blog via RSS too. I thought there was something wrong with me when I didn't think this book was THAT good. Yeah I would have been mad if this book has an ambiguous ending!

I looked back, and this was the first fiction I read in 2011, so I was probably being generous... now I look back, it's probably more of a 2-2.5 for me. It has potential but just way too long. I heard Delirium is good though and since I like YA dystopian so may still give it a try.

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5 Stars = Life changing!4 Stars = Inspiring3 Stars = Okay...2 Stars = Not for me1 Star = Meh0 Star - Did not finish (DNF)... They aren't necessarily worse than 1 star, just that I couldn't finish for one reason or another so I don't feel right to rate them.